In modern contemporary fencing installations it is not unusual to include a swinging gate or door to provide access to the area being enclosed. Usually the swinging gate is provided with a xe2x80x9cboltxe2x80x9d which engages and locks into a thumb latch which is mounted on the stationary adjoining wall or post. These closure installations work acceptably well until some misalignment occurs between the bolt and the latch. The misalignment can be severe in instances where the length of the gate exceeds a few feet. Misalignment frequently occurs in areas subject to frost heaving of the gate and/or the fence or post on which the thumb latch (keeper) is mounted. The frost heaving can be embarrassing because it may cause the gate to xe2x80x9cstickxe2x80x9d in the closed position due to the force transmitted to the latch by the misaligned bolt. The same situation occurs in hurried installations where the gate post upon which the gate is hinged settles due to improper packing of the earth about the post during construction.
Upon forcing a gate to open once misalignment has occurred, it is difficult if not impossible to close the gate and engage the bolt with the thumb latch due to the lack of registration of the bolt and latch.
It is usually necessary to remove and re-mount the latch assembly (or the bolt) to permit the gate to be closed and latched in the secure position after the misalignment of the latch and bolt has occurred. This invention will compensate for the misalignment which occurs due to faulty installation or during heaving resulting from frost penetration.
This invention allows for substantial vertical misalignment of the bolt and latch assembly of a garden gate type lock and will permit latching and unlatching of the bolt despite reasonable relative vertical misalignment of the gate and latching post.
This latch assembly comprises a standard thumb latch keeper which is permanently mounted on a stationary post or wall and wherein a latch bolt is arranged to pivot about the end of the bolt remote from the keeper so as to engage the latch keeper.
The latch assembly thus comprises a bolt which will be found to be somewhat longer than a standard latch bolt, but the end of the bolt remote from the latch is pivoted to allow the bolt to pivot in a vertical plane, and the bolt will be maintained within a guide having a slot which confines the pivoting motion of the bolt to that in a vertical plane.
The bolt will pivot in a vertical plane within the guide which will compensate for a substantial amount of misalignment between the gate and the stationary post or wall.